


The Benefits of Learning Russian

by xslytherclawx



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (just a handful of sentences though - the rest is in English), Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, Post-Finale, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Русский | Russian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 23:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11046564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx
Summary: Yuuri is trying to learn Russian, not only because he's engaged totheVictor Nikiforov, but also because he's relocated to St. Petersburg.Victor, meanwhile, has taken it upon himself to introduce his fiancé to the cultural life of St. Petersburg.(And Yurio is a proud Muscovite who doesn't understand why Victor acts like St Petersburg is that great because clearly Moscow is the coolest city in the world).





	The Benefits of Learning Russian

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoodbyeBlueMonday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodbyeBlueMonday/gifts).



> Anything in normal quotation marks is in the language it's in (English or Russian).  
> Anything in these « » is in Russian, but I'm writing it in English. (so you always know what language they're speaking!)  
> Any mistakes in Yurio's English or Yuuri's Russian are intentional. Any mistakes in Victor's Russian are not (please tell me if I make them).  
> There's a key for the sentences in Russian at the end.

It wasn’t as if Yuuri didn’t know _any_ Russian. Sure, his school hadn’t taught it, but he’d been, admittedly, kind of totally obsessed with Viktor Nikiforov for most of his life, so naturally he’d tried to teach himself Russian. Before the Grand Prix Final in 2015 where he’d… accidentally gotten drunk and begged Viktor to move to Hasetsu and become his coach (and then forgotten all of it because he was blackout drunk), he’d tried to learn some Russian on Duolingo, just in case he ran into his idol, so he could at least say hello.

(The website was horrible and he’d been discouraged by the penalties he’d incurred by trying to skip the alphabet section - he _had_ learned cyrillic through the years, but he didn’t know some of the words he was penalised on, and the entire thing had just been confusing and made him feel like he didn’t know anything).

After Viktor came to Hasetsu, Yuuri had been too busy to try to learn Russian. Sure, he’d tried a few things here and there, but it had really been nonstop training. And Viktor had been so focused on learning Japanese… and so distractingly beautiful (and also, honesty, so demanding a coach) that learning Russian had had to be put on the back burner.

He’d managed a simple “Здравствуйте!”[1] one morning, but to his horror, Viktor had shaken his head and said “Привет! Не надо быть формальные!”[2] with a wave of his hand.

And Yuuri had simply been too stunned by _Viktor Nikiforov_ , his all-time biggest crush and hero, telling him that they should use informal address, to reply in Russian. He defaulted, as always with Viktor, to English. “I-informal address?” he asked, cursing his stutter.

Viktor didn’t seem to catch it. “Да, конечно.[3] We’re on informal terms, wouldn’t you agree? After all, I’m living in your house.”

As his _coach_ , but the way Viktor leaned in and smiled… Yuuri had managed to stumble out an agreement and then immediately turned to focus on training.

And now, a little under a year later, here he was, in St. Petersburg, training with Viktor, living with Viktor, _engaged to be married to Viktor_. He wished his teenage self could see him now. Engaged to be married to Viktor Nikiforov, the most talented figure skater of their generation, and also, if he were honest, by far the most attractive.

Viktor, for his part, had taken on a responsibility he deemed of the utmost importance: introducing his fiancé to the cultural life of St. Petersburg.

(Yurio had scoffed and claimed that St. Petersburg wasn’t _really_ Russian, and if Yuuri really wanted to encounter real Russian culture, he’d go to Moscow, but Viktor had waved him off).

They’d gone to the opera together, and Yuuri had been more than grateful for the English supertitles. During the intermission, Viktor had leaned in toward him and whispered, « Don’t worry; I can’t understand half of what they’re singing in Russian anyway. That’s why there are supertitles in both. »

Yuuri had pondered this, which was, apparently, not the course of action Viktor had anticipated, because he’d said, “English? Did you not understand any of the words? I thought I was speaking clearly?”

Yuuri had blushed and shaken his head. “I understood! It’s just… strange that you can’t even understand some of what they’re singing, and they’re singing in Russian.”

« But you’re enjoying this? » Viktor had asked, switching back to Russian.

Yuuri had nodded and smiled. “Да. Конечно.”

Then, the following week, they’d gone to the ballet. _This_ had been something Yuuri had understood, completely, and he’d been in awe of the dancers’ abilities. There was no language barrier, and Yuuri had loved it. Afterward, walking home along the Neva hand in hand, Viktor had asked him how he’d enjoyed it, in English, so that his fiancé knew that this was a low-pressure night.

Still, Yuuri had tried to respond in his best Russian. “Мне очень понравился балет. Я… занимался балет, чтобы лучше… фигурно катанию?”[4]

Viktor had smiled and gently corrected his fiancé’s mistakes, and Yuuri had tried to make a note of the corrections. « I’m glad you liked it, » Viktor had said, squeezing his hand. « How would you feel about going to the theatre next weekend? »

The theatre had seemed as if it’d be pushing it. There probably wouldn’t be supertitles, but, well, Yuuri was able to get around St. Petersburg just fine. “Хорошая идея,”[5] he’d said. After all, Viktor was always telling him that immersion was the best way to learn a language.

Viktor had pulled him close. “Don’t worry, my darling. If you’re confused, I’ll explain everything in the intermission.”

Yuuri really couldn’t believe his luck.

* * *

 

The next day, they’d had to train alongside Yurio, who had been… well, Yurio.

“I’m telling you two idiots, Peterburg has _nothing_ on Moscow! You want theatre, piggy? Go to Moscow! Bolshoi Theatre! That’s a theatre! Peterburg tries too hard to be Western and European. We know we’re Russian in Moscow. None of this mistaken identity bullshit.”

Viktor had smiled indulgently at the boy, which had only incensed him further.

“Nothing in Peterburg is as cool as Red Square! Basilica and Kremlin and this stinking city doesn’t even have a necropolis where cosmonauts are all buried!”

“We could always spend a day at ГУМ,” Viktor had suggested. “Yuuri is going to need some nice winter clothes.”

Yurio had scoffed at that. “Piggy needs to build up his fat to survive the winter.”

Yuuri had frowned, but shrugged it off. He’d survived Detroit winters for years in a row; St Petersburg wasn’t supposed to be _that_ much colder. Sure; he’d be outside more, because everyone in St Petersburg used public transit, which was a vast difference to going from a heated building to a heated car to another heated building in Detroit, but it shouldn’t be that difficult.

“Yuuri needs to keep himself in shape so we can win the gold,” Viktor had said. “After all, I’ve never been a fan of long engagements.”

 Yuuri had felt himself blush, and Viktor had grinned like the lovesick idiot he was. Yuuri really was _incredibly_ lucky, and he was going to prove it to Viktor when they got home.

* * *

 

The play was one of Chekhov’s, _The Cherry Garden_. Well-known and popular, and Viktor had even explained the plot, after Yuuri had accepted his offer, so that Yuuri could better understand what was going on.

« I love Chekhov’s plays, » Viktor had said. « I hope you do, too. »

As was their custom, they walked hand in hand to the theatre, where Viktor handled the transactions. It wasn’t as if Yuuri _couldn’t_ handle it, but with his anxiety, the two had decided that it was better if the native speaker of the two of them dealt with such things. Yuuri really was incredibly grateful for his fiancé and he couldn’t wait to marry him.

They got to their seats, still holding hands, and talked quietly in Russian until the play started.

Almost immediately, Yuuri was completely lost. There were no supertitles or subtitles and knowing what happened only meant he could follow the plot. They were close to the stage and he could even read their lips, but it turned out that _enunciated_ Russian spoken by native speakers was still much too rapid and Yuuri tried to figure out how slowly Viktor must be intentionally speaking when they spoke Russian.

It didn’t take long for Yuuri to get completely lost, but he tried his best to follow along.

Every once in a while, Viktor would squeeze Yuuri’s hand, so Yuuri tried to piece together a pattern in the play with Viktor’s hand squeezes and found… nothing.

Yuuri was trying, he was really, really trying, but to no avail. By the intermission, he had no idea what was going on, and he was sure the look on his face told Viktor as much.

« They’re speaking very quickly, » Viktor said before Yuuri could even open his mouth, « And Chekhov’s words are a little bit… old-fashioned. Next week, we’ll go see a Soviet play. That should be easier to follow. »

Viktor wasn’t disappointed in him; of course he wasn’t. Viktor _loved him_. Yuuri tried to imagine how happy it would make him to see Viktor engaging in Japanese culture like this if the tables were turned; he thought of how happy it had made him to see Viktor trying to speak Japanese with his family and friends. Of course Viktor wasn’t disappointed in him, but Viktor kissed his cheek and that made Yuuri feel all the warmer.

“Я люблю тебя,” [6] Yuuri whispered into Viktor’s ear.

Viktor grinned. “А я люблю тебя, любовь моя,”[7] he replied, kissing Yuuri on the mouth this time. « I can’t wait until we’re married. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Yuuri, my love. »

Sometimes, Yuuri couldn’t believe how lucky he was. And now, more than ever, he was entirely sure that learning Russian was worth it, when he could understand Viktor’s terms of endearment spoken in his native language.

He promised himself right there to help Viktor learn Japanese. This was absolutely priceless.

**Author's Note:**

> 1 “Здравствуйте!" - "Hello!" (formal). I figure Yuuri would use formal here because he's always idolised Victor, they're not too close yet, and he's also Japanese, which is a culture in which formality is very much ingrained. [return to text]
> 
> 2 "Привет! Не надо быть формальные!" - "Hello! (informal) We don't need to be formal!" self-explanatory, really. [return to text]
> 
> 3 "Да, конечно." - "Yes, of course." [return to text]
> 
> 4 “Мне очень понравился балет. Я… занимался балет, чтобы лучше… фигурно катанию?” - "I really enjoyed the ballet. I... did ballet, in order to figure skate better." There are intentional errors built in (especially in the second sentence, where he should use instrumental case and uses an adverb that doesn't exist) [return to text]
> 
> 5 “Хорошая идея,” - "Good idea" [return to text]
> 
> \- Yurio's referring to St Petersburg as "Peterburg" is coming from the Russian word for the city (which is "Peterburg"), and a mistake I've heard native Russian speakers actually make.
> 
> \- In my experience, at least, Muscovites (such as Yurio) get really defensive of their city and sometimes even claim St Petersburg isn't "really Russia" because it was built to be a European capital and is the most Westernised city in Russia.
> 
> \- ГУМ isn't marked with a note, but it is like the biggest store in Moscow and is now apparently a mall? It's Victor's attempt to placate Yurio by conceding Moscow has merits. Yurio is not placated.
> 
> 6 “Я люблю тебя,” - "I love you". Again: self-explanatory [return to text]
> 
> 7 “А я люблю тебя, любовь моя,” - "I love you, too, my love." Victor would 100% say this even though it's over the top bc he's over the top. [return to text]
> 
> А я никогда не была в России! И я не говорю очень хорошо по-русски! Я только на уровне B1!  
> If there are errors, please let me know! Again: errors in Yurio's english and Yuuri's russian are intentional, but if there are errors in the cultural information or in Victor's russian, please let me know!


End file.
